Friday, October 25, 2013

Some meals are steeped in tradition in most families. For us
Thanksgiving is one of those. The meal never changes from year to year, but
each year we like to think that this Thanksgiving meal was the best ever. This
year I found ways to make our meal just as traditional with only a few simple
changes to allow for Celiac Disease and food allergies, that I have recently been
diagnosed with. The components are all there, they have only been changed in
simple ways to embrace the flavours of a traditional thanksgiving meal. My
changes would be easy for most people to work around and find ways to adapt
with whatever allergies they may have.

We chose to serve dinner buffet style as not everyone that was present could manage passing the dishes around family style. This way it kept the table clutter to a minimum and everyone could see what they were getting before they seated themselves at a dim candlelit table. We did however put the Cranberry Sauce and Extra Gravy on the table for top ups. As you can see I have a very tiny kitchen so being organised is essential.

I must thank my family for participating
in the preparation of this meal, as each of us undertook a component and cooked
and prepped a dish or too. I was host so I did the turkey, stuffing and gravy.
My Mom, who is amazing, made glazed carrots and a mixed vegetable, cranberry
sauce and an apple crisp. My daughter Trina and her beau made the families
favourite of brussel sprouts with bacon. Amanda and her boyfriend made the
mashed potatoes. (They brought enough potatoes for twenty more). And my sister
who has much more knowledge of such things brought the wine. By doing the meal
this way, no one had a huge lot of work, and it made for a much more relaxed
preparation for all. Everyone was so good about working around my food list
too. This is a very long post, but I thought it was important that all of our
meal is included. I will also post the individual recipes for easier printing.

It was so good and I could eat almost
everything. The only exceptions were the Apple Crisp and the Whipped Cream, but that
was alright as I had gluten free pumpkin pie and Ice cream and you can only eat so much dessert.
There is no need for the others to go without things they like as long as there
are choices that are good for everyone.

Gluten Free Unstuffed Roasted Turkey with an herb and garlic rub

By inserting my herb mixture under the skin of the turkey you get more flavour throughout the bird. As eating turkey skin is not good for you, this adds the flavour directly to the meat, rather than on the surface of the skin.

I like to transfer the turkey to a new serving plate for dishing up. It is not always too appetising to look at the turkey carcass when you are serving yourself.

The turkey was roasted unstuffed so that there was no cross contamination to the bird for anyone with extra allergy concerns. After washing and cleaning the
bird, I made an herb rub to go under the skin. The rub was made of a ½ cup of gluten free soy free margarine spread, ½ cup of chopped fresh parsley, ¼ cup of chopped fresh rosemary, a ½ cup of fresh chopped basil and two cloves of crushed garlic. I then added 1 tsp. of rock salt and black
pepper. With your hand loosen the skin of the turkey, along the breast and the
legs. I used my hands to rub the herb mixture under the skin of the turkey
until I was happy with the distribution of the herb mixture. Just make sure you
wash yourself up with lots of soap and water after handling the bird. I then
seasoned inside the turkey with salt and pepper. I peeled two whole onions and
put them in the cavity of the turkey just for extra flavour. The outside skin
of the turkey, I rubbed with a little olive oil. I peeled four carrots and put
them in the roasting pan, under the turkey as if they are a rack. This keeps
the bird off the bottom of the pan, and later it gives your gravy tons of extra
flavour. I always use the turkey cooking calculator on the web site http://www.butterball.ca/index.php. If you have never roasted a turkey they have full instructions on the butterball site too.

This is by far the most accurate way I have found to cook a perfect turkey.
Just read the weight of your turkey from the packaging and enter it into the
calculator and choose your cooking method (stuffed or unstuffed) and it gives
you an exact cooking time. It could not be easier. I always allow about a half
hour of resting time for my turkey before carving and serving, which gives you
time to prepare your other dishes as well.

I
made my own scratch gravy using the
pan drippings. If you have not done this before, you just remove the turkey
from the pan to your serving and carving platter. As I had used whole carrots
as a roasting rack, I put these into the blender with some of the turkey drippings
and some extra chicken stock (gluten free of course). Blend the carrots and
drippings until they are pureed and very smooth. Do not use all of the pan
drippings as you need some in the pan to help develop the flavour and colour of
the gravy. Put your turkey roaster or another stove safe pan with the drippings
on the stove at Medium High and get it really hot. Stir your drippings and
scrape the bottom of the pan with your spoon until your drippings become a
little caramelized, but not burned. You will then stir in water or chicken (or
turkey) broth to the caramelized drippings and bring it to a boil. In our
family we like to drain our potatoes and use the potato water in our gravy. The
potato water helps add flavour and the potato starch that is already infused in
the water helps to thicken your gravy. We usually simmer the turkey neck and
organs with a little onion, celery and a bay leaf for a few hours too and use
this broth in the gravy. We have a few family members who eat the neck and
gizzards but you do not want to use them in the gravy. Just set them aside for
those who like them. In our family we like lots of gravy, so I usually add a
full four or five cups of broth to the drippings. To thicken my gravy I use ½
cup of cold water and mix in 1/3 cup of potato starch. For years this has been
done with wheat flour but the potato flour works great. I also add back the
pureed carrots with broth. You want to use a whisk for the best results when
adding the potato flour mixture to your broth and stir constantly until the
gravy is thickened. Just pour the starch mixture in slowly and if your gravy
gets too thick, stop pouring or add more broth.

We like lots of gravy, so there is a spouted serving dish on the buffet and we also put smaller gravy dishes on the table for extra top ups.

The secret is once your gravy
is thickened to let it boil, without burning for about a minute so that your
starch is all dissolved and blended. The last step is to season your gravy with
salt & pepper to taste. I used to use bouillon cubes in my gravy, but it is
hard to find gluten free, soy free bouillon, so now I find adding the carrot
puree adds the needed colour and flavour. It is a great way of getting your
family to eat more vegetables too, and unless they see you add them they
usually do not know they are there.

Our
mashed potatoes used to be made with milk and butter for mashing, but no one
seems to miss these ingredients. I now use gluten free chicken broth and vegan
margarine (I use Earth Balance Soy Free buttery spread) in my mashed potatoes.
I am allergic to dairy and soy so these changes work for me. You can use
whatever fat you choose and you can substitute milk or alternative milk for the
broth too. We have used almond milk and had great results too. They are equally
fluffy and delicious. A few tips for mashed potatoes are as follows:

·Be
sure to cook your potatoes until they are fork soft but not mushy

·For
the best results start with cold water when boiling your potatoes, it helps
them cook more evenly

·Save
your potato cooking water for your gravy

·Always
mash your potatoes when they are hot, otherwise they get lumpy

·Mash
your potatoes until the lumps are gone before you add the margarine & broth
to prevent lumps

·Since
I have arthritis in my hands and shoulders I use my stand mixer to mash my
potatoes, but a good old potato masher works fine if you do not have a mixer

·Serve
with gravy or butter or margarine (we like to float our plates with gravy)

It took me a few days to make my Cornbread Stuffing and yet it was
very simple to make. I am allergic to corn so I do not have anything corn too
often, but corn is better than wheat for me and being that I am very allergic
to rice I do not have too many alternatives to make stuffing. This was so good
this recipe it was worth taking an antihistamine for. The first step was to
make a batch of corn bread. I doubled the recipe and used 1 ½ pans in my
stuffing. The other half we had with dinner the day I made it. The cornbread
needs to dry for a few days before you make it into stuffing. It is very easy to make as
it is just simple casserole bread.

I kept the cubed corn bread on a cookie sheet covered with a clean dish towel for two days before Thanksgiving to help it dry out and get crispy.

Gluten Free Corn Bread

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup cornmeal, preferably medium
grind

1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
blend (I like to use a mix by XO Baking Company it is gluten, rice and soy free
and works great)

1/4 cup of agave syrup

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temp, lightly
beaten

1/4 cup melted
coconut oil (it helps to brown baking in a wonderful way and it is so much
healthier)

Preheat oven to 350º

Grease a square baking pan 9 x 9 baking pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the
milk and vinegar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the
cornmeal, flour, agave, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the
milk mixture, eggs and oil until just blended. Pour the batter in to
your greased pan.

Bake until golden, and a toothpick
comes out clean, which will be about 35 minutes. Let cool completely in
the pan on a wire rack. For stuffing cut your cornbread into ½ inch cubes
and spread it onto a cookie sheet to dry out. Cover the pan with a clean towel.
This takes a few days. As far as preparation goes it only took about five
minutes to mix the cornbread from scratch. Super easy and simple for something
so good.

This is the All purpose flour blend I have been using. So far everything I have made with the mixes for this company have been very good. I think some of them are actually better than baking made with wheat flour as the resulting products have been moist and flavourful. I came across this mix as it does not contain any rice or soy. The main base for the flour mix comes from cassava flour, potato starch, organic coconut flour and Xanthan Gum. It is very difficult finding gluten free products that are not made with a rice base and this one works very well. Having Celiac Disease and a rice allergy really limits the alternative products that I can use. I have been able to buy this product at two stores in our town, Save-on-Foods and Peoples Drug Mart.

This was so good almost everyone went back for
second helpings of stuffing and there were very few leftovers.

In a large bowl add your prepared and
dried cornbread cubes (I dried mine two days as per the recipe above)

Add 1 tablespoon of salt and pepper
or to taste

Mix in 1 cup of dried cranberries and
two large Anaheim chilies which have been chopped to a ¼ inch size. Add one
tablespoon of dried cumin.

In a fry pan add 1 tablespoon of
olive oil. Sauté two chopped red onions, 6 cloves of crushed garlic and 6
stalks of diced celery. Sauté until just tender but do not burn your garlic as
this will make it bitter. Add the onion mixture to your bowl of cornbread. Mix
it in well. Add approximately ½ cup of chicken broth to your stuffing mix. Just
enough to moisten the mix without making it too mushy and not too dry as it
will dry out when it bakes.

Put the mixture into a nice oven to
serving type of dish. Bake it for ½ hour at 325. I had just enough time to put
it in the oven when the turkey came out and the turkey rested. I have to say
this was awesome when I made it, but I was not crazy over the leftovers as they
got pretty dry.

Mix all of the above ingredients into
a heavy saucepan. To clean your cranberries I like to use a colander. Place the
berries in a colander and rinse them well. Go through them carefully looking
for bad or wrinkled cranberries and check for leaves and stems. An interesting fact about cranberries is that fresh and healthy cranberries bounce. This is used in harvesting and packaging. The machines are set up so that the cranberries bounce on the conveyor which helps to separate the good from the bad. Cook your sauce
over Medium heat stirring occasionally. When the mixture comes to a boil, stir
frequently. You will let your sauce boil until the berries have popped and the
sauce starts to thicken. The easiest way to test for thickness is to use a
metal spoon. Dip the clean spoon into the sauce and hold it up. When it no
longer drips it is ready. This takes no more than 10 to 15 minutes. Skim the
foam off of the top of the sauce and discard. Pour your sauce into a nice
serving dish and cool. Cover the sauce with a piece of plastic wrap as this
will keep it from drying out. This can be made several days in advance and refrigerated.
It is so much better than canned it is really worth the few minutes it takes to
make.

The cranberry sauce was served from the table in smaller bowls.Print Link: http://www.cheriesforgetmenots.com/2013/10/maple-honey-and-black-cherry-cranberry.html

My mom outdid herself with this
vegetable. The glaze brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots without
being too sweet.

Place your carrots in an oven safe,
serving dish. If you use a dish that is oven proof and beautiful you can take
the carrots out directly from the oven to serving and not make any extra dirty
dishes. There are many of this type of casserole available. I try to keep mine
in simple colours so that I can use them with any meal, no matter the colour
scheme or occasion. I find white dishes the easiest to match with almost any
tablescape.

In a separate bowl mix together the
remaining ingredients. Mix well and then pour the glaze over your carrots, toss
together to spread the glaze over all of the carrots. Bake your carrots in a
350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes in a covered casserole, until they are
fork soft. You can make this recipe earlier in the day and set it aside, then
just pop it in the oven to rewarm it just before serving. Just make sure you do
not overcook the carrots otherwise when you rewarm them they will get mushy.

My Mom also made a dish of steamed broccoli with slices of red
peppers. They were microwave steamed as a cooking method, which takes about 5
to 10 minutes. I have not included the recipe as it only involves cleaning your
vegetables and cutting them into serving size pieces. They were cooked and
served in a microwave safe bowl. My Mom also cleaned and sliced the broccoli
stems and included these with the broccoli. They are so good when they are done
well. You have to peel the outer skin off of the stems and then slice them and
add with your other vegetables.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Red Onion

One of our favorite side dishes in our family is Roasted Brussel Sprouts
with Bacon and Red Onion. For some
reason my children have always loved brussel sprouts. Even as little children
they used to beg me to buy them. They would rather have these than candy and junk
food. This is what my step daughter ate in the car on her way to the hospital
in labour with my granddaughter. Over time we have played with the original
recipe until we got it to this very simple but delicious recipe.

5 pounds of cleaned whole brussel sprouts

1 pound of Gluten Free Naturals Bacon uncooked cut in ½ inch
pieces

1 red onion, chopped

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste (you do not need much salt as you already
have bacon)

Clean your brussel sprouts and put them in an oven safe serving
dish. Chop your bacon and onions and add them to the dish. Toss your brussel
sprouts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper if desired. Set your
oven to 350 degrees and bake until the brussel sprouts and bacon are cooked,
but not too soft. Roasting gives this dish a beautiful caramelized flavour. This
dish can be baked early in the day and then warmed before serving. They are so
good, even brussel sprout haters like them. I have included a link to information all
about brussel sprouts, nutrition, selecting, storing and cleaning instructions
too. I like to keep mine whole for
roasting as this helps to keep them from over cooking.

Our dinner was served with a pumpkin pie made from a recipe on the
Gluten Free Goddess Blog. It is easy to make and well worth the effort. I like to use this blog for recipes as
anything I have ever made from Karina’s site has always turned out really good.
I did not make too many changes as it is already adapted to Gluten Free and
lots of allergies. It is not recommended for anyone with nut allergies. Unfortunately by the time dessert came around I forgot to take any pictures.

The
only changes I made to the original recipe were as follows. I used agave in
place of the light brown sugar in both the crust and the filling, as I do not
eat sugar. When asked for lime juice or orange, I used lime as I am allergic to
oranges. I used the maple syrup rather than brown rice syrup when making the
Pumpkin Seed Praline for on top of the pie as I am also allergic to rice. I
used regular pure vanilla in place of the bourbon vanilla due to availability. Some
of our guests added fresh whipping cream with their pie. Otherwise I followed
the recipe exactly as posted. It was a wonderful replacement for a regular
gluten crust pumpkin pie.

I
also bought a prepared pumpkin pie to serve, as not everyone likes to try
gluten free baking. I had lots of this pie leftover and not too much of the
pumpkin pie with praline, which to me is the best feedback you can get on a
recipe.

My
Mom made one of her Apple Crisp’s. It was not gluten free so I have not
included the recipe. She makes the best Apple Crisp I have ever had, unfortunately
I can no longer have it, but it is a family favorite for those who do not like
pumpkin. Hopefully I can talk my Mom into recording her recipe for a future
post, even if it is not gluten free. (Thanks Mom)

I
also had available a container of my home made Strawberry-Rhubarb Coconut Ice
cream. It is so good and a perfect match to pie and apple crisp. I can not understand how strawberry-rhubarb icecream is not a flavour that is in the coolers of the world as it is such a great combination.

I
really think this year it really was one of our best dinners ever. It was so
easy with everyone pitching in and bringing a dish. It made a big dinner into a
small chore for everyone. I hope you enjoy our recipes and find your own Gluten
Free Allergy recipes can be adapted to your traditional dinner. I happily share
our families’ recipes with you.

We used my quilted turkey napkin rings and napkins at each place setting which is part of our traditional dinner. You can find the pattern and tutorial here.

I used some arrangements I made with crystal vases and floating spa lights on the table. They added a very unique and colourful table accent. This tutorial will follow in a future blog. I have a basket to give away that contains all of the supplies needed to make two arrangements. This contest will follow in the next few days.

A view of the quilted turkey napkin ring and napkins on the dinner table. I also used candle holders with fresh leaves. In the candle holder a second layer of glass separates the leaves away from the candles keeping them safe to burn.

My tarnished silver candelabra looked beautiful in the table center. The candles were painted and glittered in Autumn colours. The post about this arrangement can be seen here.

Setting a table becomes very easy when you have a few arrangements around your home before the dinner. I added a few handfuls of glass rocks to the table just to add some sparkle. The candles bounce off the glass of the rocks. The rocks can be kept in a vase and used for decor the rest of the year.